What watershed do you live in and what do you like about it? I live in the tidal marsh area of the Sausalito Creek Watershed on a houseboat in Richardson Bay! I like living there because I am able to get outside and see wildlife so easily. Since moving there, I have gotten into birding from looking outside or walking along the trail that is near my house. I get to see tons of resident birds and am always excited when I see birds coming through on their migration. Sometimes buffleheads float outside the house and curl up sleeping outside our back porch, it's very cute. When the tide gets …
Nurturing Change Through Urban Greening and Urban Forestry in North Richmond
By Juliana Gonzalez In 2014, my journey into the world of urban forestry in Richmond began with the concerted act of planting trees in neighborhood spaces. This endeavor was a collective approach by several non-profit organizations in Richmond looking to partner with the city to plant 10,000 trees and seed an urban forest. This initial plan was a wonderful learning opportunity for all of the partners as we advanced in our efforts to implement the urban greening master plan laid out by the coalition of organizations and the city. We learned a lot from that initial effort and took …
Tuyuk or Toyon: Evergreen Habitat Plant and Winter Berry Extraordinaire
By Ethan Rayner Fall is in the air, and along with the time change, atmospheric river, and crunchy leaves, another telltale seasonal display is just beginning… Berry season! No, not the idealized plump and juicy commercially available berries found through the summer. In this case, toyon berries, just starting to turn a vibrant red on the ends of dark green waxy-leafed branches. While many other California native and non-native ornamental plants decorating our yards and parks drop their leaves and go dormant in preparation for winter, toyon is just starting to come on to its own. What’s …
Creeks: Watersheds’ circulatory system
By Paula White Water is the lifeblood of the planet and Coastal Cleanup Day is when we “take the pulse” of our Earth to understand the health of our watersheds better. During this year’s Coastal Cleanup Day events, The Watershed Project and Contra Costa County’s network of Coastal Cleanup Day Site Captains engaged over 1,000 volunteers who removed 10,544 pounds and over 3,000 gallons of trash from our watersheds! Thank you! This year’s cleanups included eight shoreline sites and 10 creek sites. There are some interesting differences between these two types of settings, notably the …
Small and Mighty: Tirasmin (The Cross Orbweaver)
By Maggie Chen Fall is officially underway and along with heralding all things mysterious, we want to shine a light on one of our watershed spider residents: the Cross Orbweaver. While we are giving some shine on the Orbweaver, those in the Bay Area might see some early Halloween decorations as baby spiders are falling from the sky! Bay Area residents have shared on social media seeing tufts of white spider webs floating around and sticking to surfaces in San Francisco, Danville, Gilroy, and more. Within these webs are baby spiders that are looking for new places to live – this …
Inviting Water In
By Kat Sawyer In September 2023, The Watershed Project (TWP) was invited to give a presentation at CASQA’S 2023 conference in San Diego. The California Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA) is a professional member association that advances sustainable stormwater management protection of California water resources. https://www.casqa.org/ This year’s conference theme was “Rain Ready California”. The Watershed Project’s presentation, delivered by Kat Sawyer, the Greening Urban Watersheds Program Manager, highlighted TWP’s innovative Youth Watershed Stewards program, which is made possible …
Introducing Urban Nature Loop – a Self-Guided Walking Tour of North Richmond
By Naama Raz-Yaseef We are thrilled to share with you a resource we at The Watershed Project have been working on over the past year. Introducing Urban Nature Loop - a self-guided walking tour of North Richmond! This project, accessible through our website and an app, stretches between Verde School along Wildcat Creek trail to Fred Jackson Way, Chelsey Ave. through Shields Reid Park, and back to Verde School on Giaramita St., with extensions to the Fish Passage and Urban Tilth’s Farm. The Urban Nature Loop aims to connect people with their environment, and more specifically, their …
Goodbye Trash, Hello Habitat!
By Paula White Long time residents of the Bay Area may remember when birds were a rarity. Not anymore–today some 200 bird species live in and around the Bay Shoreline. Frequent visitors include Brown Pelicans, Great Blue Herons, Great and Snowy egrets, Buffleheads, Ruddy Ducks, and American Wigeons, Western Gulls… you get the picture. Yet plastic pollution persists throughout our watersheds and continues to pose a threat to birds and other wildlife species that live in water. Coastal Cleanup Day data has played an important part in identifying problem plastics that have resulted in many …
